Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword: The Essential Role of Youth Development by Robert H. Bruininks
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Early Childhood Development and Human Capital
- PART I PRENATAL AND INFANT PROGRAMS
- PART II PRESCHOOL EDUCATION
- PART III KINDERGARTEN AND EARLY SCHOOL-AGE SERVICES AND PRACTICES
- PART IV ECONOMIC SYNTHESES OF EARLY CHILDHOOD INVESTMENTS
- Commentary at the Human Capital Research Collaborative Conference
- 15 The Cost Effectiveness of Public Investment in High-Quality Prekindergarten: A State-Level Synthesis
- 16 The Fiscal Returns to Public Educational Investments in African American Males
- 17 A New Cost-Benefit and Rate of Return Analysis for the Perry Preschool Program: A Summary
- 18 Investing in Our Young People
- 19 Paths of Effects of Preschool Participation to Educational Attainment at Age 21: A Three-Study Analysis
- Appendix Question-and-Answer Sessions
- Name Index
- Subject Index
- References
16 - The Fiscal Returns to Public Educational Investments in African American Males
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword: The Essential Role of Youth Development by Robert H. Bruininks
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Early Childhood Development and Human Capital
- PART I PRENATAL AND INFANT PROGRAMS
- PART II PRESCHOOL EDUCATION
- PART III KINDERGARTEN AND EARLY SCHOOL-AGE SERVICES AND PRACTICES
- PART IV ECONOMIC SYNTHESES OF EARLY CHILDHOOD INVESTMENTS
- Commentary at the Human Capital Research Collaborative Conference
- 15 The Cost Effectiveness of Public Investment in High-Quality Prekindergarten: A State-Level Synthesis
- 16 The Fiscal Returns to Public Educational Investments in African American Males
- 17 A New Cost-Benefit and Rate of Return Analysis for the Perry Preschool Program: A Summary
- 18 Investing in Our Young People
- 19 Paths of Effects of Preschool Participation to Educational Attainment at Age 21: A Three-Study Analysis
- Appendix Question-and-Answer Sessions
- Name Index
- Subject Index
- References
Summary
INTRODUCTION
Among all of the major demographic groups in the United States, African American (Black) males experience the poorest educational outcomes. Whether we measure such outcomes in terms of test scores, high school graduation, postsecondary attendance, or college graduation, African American males lag substantially behind other groups. It is widely recognized that unequal educational outcomes lead to unequal economic consequences throughout the life-course. In particular, individuals with low-attainment and poor-quality education – characteristics that often overlap – can expect to face inferior employment prospects, low wages, poor health, and greater involvement in the criminal justice system.
Educational inequality for Black males is a moral issue, but it is also an economic one: Poor education leads to large social costs in the form of lower societal income and economic growth, lower tax revenues, and higher costs of public services such as health, criminal justice, and public assistance. Thus, it is possible to assess efforts to improve educational outcomes for Black males as a public investment that might yield high returns.
In this chapter, we undertake a comprehensive assessment of the public returns to investments for improving the educational attainments of Black males. We begin by documenting the extent of educational inequality between Blacks and Whites. Next, we identify educational interventions that would increase the rate of high school graduation, and we calculate their public costs.
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- Information
- Childhood Programs and Practices in the First Decade of LifeA Human Capital Integration, pp. 342 - 365Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010